Efficacy of Zhumian Tang formula granules combined with eszopiclone for the treatment of poor sleep quality: a multi-center, randomized controlled, superiority trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Zhumian Tang formula granules combined with eszopiclone for treating poor sleep quality. METHODS: This multi-center, dynamic block-randomized, parallel-group superiority clinical trial included 130 patients. The combined treatment group received Zhumian Tang formula granules combined with eszopiclone treatment, and the control group received eszopiclone treatment only. The group allocation ratio was 1∶1. The duration of treatment was 2 weeks. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires before treatment, after 1 week of the intervention, after 2 weeks of the intervention, and at the follow-up on week 3. The primary outcomes were the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score and the total effective rate of treatment. The secondary outcome was the rate of adverse effects. RESULTS: Compared with the eszopiclone treatment group, the PSQI score of the combined treatment group was significantly lower after 2 weeks of the intervention (6.98 vs 8.26, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the mean PSQI score after 1 week of the intervention (9.89 vs 9.15, P = 0.124). After the follow-up on week 3, the PSQI score of the combined treatment group remained significantly lower than that of the eszopiclone treatment group (6.12 vs 8.31, P < 0.001). The total effective rates of treatment of the combined group and the eszopiclone group were 36.92% vs 35.38% (Z = 0.033, P = 0.855) after 1 week of the intervention, 83.08% vs 58.46% (Z = 9.519, P < 0.05) after 2 weeks of the intervention, and 83.08% vs 61.54% (Z = 7.530, P < 0.05) and after the follow-up on week 3, respectively. There was no significant difference in the overall rate of adverse reactions between the combined and eszopiclone treatment groups (21.53% vs 31.8%, P = 0.318). CONCLUSION: The combination of Zhumian Tang formula granules with eszopiclone was found to be safe and more effective in improving sleep quality than eszopiclone alone. Traditional Chinese medicine can enhance the effectiveness of Western medicine in the treatment of insomnia.

Efficacy of catgut embedding in Baihui (GV20) and Feishu (BL13) and Pishu (BL20) on lung tissue, brain tissue and blood related indexes in rats with allergic rhinitis of lung deficiency type.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of acupoint catgut embedding for 3 weeks on lung tissue, blood immunoglobulin E (IgE) and interleutin-4 (IL-4), brain tissue microglia x-42 (OX-42) and toll-like receptor-2 (TLR-2) in rats with allergic rhinitis of lung deficiency type. METHODS: Forty-five female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided for two times. The first time, they were randomly divided into model group and blank group (Group C) according to 2:1, and the second time, the model group were randomly divided into model control group (Group B) and intervention treatment group (Group A) according to 1:1. 15 in each group. For Group A and Group B, the lung deficiency model was made by "sulfur-moxa fumigation", and then the allergic rhinitis model was established by "ovalbumin (OVA) sensitization". Then catgut embedding was performed at acupoints in Group A and not in Group B. After 3 weeks, collect lung tissue samples for hematoxylin-eosin staining, then take blood to observe the concentration of IgE and IL-4, and finally take brain tissue to observe the results of OX-42 and TLR-2. RESULTS: IgE level (µg/mL) was (3.11 ± 0.20) in the Group A, (4.19 ± 0.44) in the Group B, and (2.29 ± 0.30) in the Group C (all < 0.001). IL-4 level (pg/mL) was (14.2 ± 0.7) in the Group A, (18.6 ± 2.4) in the Group B, and (11.4 ± 1.2) for the Group C (all < 0.001). The mean OD for OX-42 is (0.1728 ± 0.0016) in the Group A, (0.1810 ± 0.0046) in the Group B and (0.1674 ± 0.0025) in the Group C (all < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Although 3 weeks of acupoint catgut embedding already showed obvious efficacy on rats with allergic rhinitis, the allergic reaction in the body still continued. To achieve further treatment, prolonging the catgut embedding time is necessary.

Discussion on the pathogenesis of "spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation" of colorectal polyps based on intestinal flora and glucose and lipid metabolism / 国际中医中药杂志

Intestinal flora imbalance and abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism are important risk factors and pathological mechanisms of colorectal polyps. "Spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation" is the core pathogenesis of colorectal polyps. The imbalance of intestinal flora is related to spleen deficiency, and the application of Chinese herbs for invigorating spleen is helpful to the recovery of intestinal flora balance. Abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism is related to dampness accumulation, and it is effective to treat it with bitter and spicy herbs or spleen-invigorating and dampness-eliminating herbs. The interaction between intestinal flora imbalance and abnormal glucose and lipid metabolism changes intestinal microenvironment, damages intestinal epithelial cells, causes abnormal proliferation of intestinal stem cells and leads to colorectal polyps, which is consistent with the pathogenesis of spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Thus, we tried to explore the biological connotation of the pathogenesis of "spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation" of colorectal polyps from the perspective of the interaction of intestinal flora and glucose and lipid metabolism, in order to provide reference for identifying high-risk population and analyzing the therapeutic mechanism of compound prescription for invigorating spleen and removing dampness.

Data mining and analysis of the rules of prescriptions in the treatment of epigastric pain in A Hundred Years of Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinicians in China / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To analyze the prescriptions for the treatment for epigastric pain in A Hundred Years of Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinicians in China. Methods:The clinical medical records of well-known TCM doctors for the treatment of epigastric pain were included in the A Hundred Years of Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinicians in China. The database of clinical prescriptions and medicines was built, and the ancient and the Ancient and Modern Medical Records Cloud Platform (V 2.1) was applied and the evaluation of drug efficacy, sex, taste, and menstruation were conducted. Descriptive analysis, association rules, hierarchical clustering, and complex network analysis were applied in the rule of medication, drug pairs and core prescriptions. Results:Data was cleaned according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 270 prescriptions were collected, involving 265 kinds of drugs, and the cumulative frequency of drug use was 3 249. The analysis showed that the drugs commonly used by famous traditional Chinese medicine doctors for the treatment of epigastric pain were mainly warm drugs, tast-balance drugs, and mildly cold drugs. The main flavors of medicines were pungent medicines, bitter medicines, sweet medicines, and effects were mainly drugs that regulate qi, clear heat, and invigorate the spleen. The frequency of drug meridians mainly belonged to spleen meridian, stomach meridian, lung meridian, liver meridian, heart meridian. The effects of the drug were mainly to dry dampness, reduce side effects, regulate qi, clear heat, invigorate spleen, and soften liver and analgesics. Association rule analysis found that the commonly used drug pairs were Pinellia- Tangerine Peel, Atractylodes Macrocephala- Poria, Poria- Tangerine Peel, Atractylodes- Tangerine Peel, Amomum tangerine Peel, Ochre- generation- Inula, Rhizoma Coptis- Evodia, and so on. Cluster analysis showed that Liujunzi Decoction, Zuojin Pill, and Shaoyao Gancao Decoction were mainly used. The drug complex network diagram showed that the core prescription of the drug is Xiangsha Liujunzi Decoction. Conclusion:The well-known TCM doctor focuses on strengthening the spleen and regulating qi, reconciling qi and blood, The treatment identified that the mutual warming and clearing, tonifying and deoppilation, and neutral are the main principles.

Experimental research on cardiotonic effect of active compound from raw and processing aconite roots / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the cardiotonic effect of active compoud from raw and processing aconite roots used rats with acute heart failure (AHF) as the experimental animals.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Isolated toad cordis was employed to observe the cardiotonic effect and the AHF models were reproduced in rats by pentobarbital sodium to observe the hemodynamics marker acute heart failure, and elucidate cardiotonic effect.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The DDA(s) and MDA-P improved contractile force obviously on isolated toad cordis (P < 0.05). And the most amplification of contractile force was 91.107% +/- 87.663% (P < 0.01). But the effect on isolated heart rates was not significant. The change of LVSP, +/- dp/dt(max), LVEDP were significant (P < 0.01, P < 0.001), and the HR increased evidently by adminstrate processing aconite roots active compounds after the agent in 5 min.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>There are cardiotonic effect on isolated toad cordis in rats with active compounds from raw and processing aconite roots.</p>